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@LtGovHochulNY

I just heard on the radio you are having a press conference at 2 pm today. FYI there is a FEMA/FCC emergency alert test scheduled today at 2:20 for TV, radio and cell phones. This may impact your viewing audience. It is supposed to last for approx 30 min.

https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/10/fema-emergency-alert-system/

FEMA will buzz phones, TVs and radios to test the national emergency alert system

Zack Whittaker@zackwhittaker / 12:33 PM EDT•August 10, 2021

Mark your calendars. This Wednesday will be the first nationwide test of the U.S. emergency alert system since the pandemic.

The test will run both the Emergency Alert System (EAS), which broadcasts an emergency tone and message on televisions and radios, and the Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), a newer system that sends emergency notifications to smartphones. It will be the second nationwide test of the WEA after its debut in 2018, and the first test for those who have chosen to opt-in to tests.

This time around, the EAS will broadcast the all-too-familiar high-pitched buzz to televisions and radios at around 2:20 p.m. ET. At the same time, the WEA system will broadcast the same tone and message to U.S. cell phones that have opted-in to receive alerts. (You can check your phone settings under “Emergency Alerts.”)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, runs the test every year or two to ensure the system is working properly. It’s no small task: A national emergency alert system that can broadcast a message to potentially hundreds of millions of people at any given time is fraught with technological hurdles that require close co-operation from the cell carriers and broadcast networks.

The EAS system has been around since the late 1990s, but WEA was developed in the past few years as Americans increasingly moved from televisions and radio and to our phones. WEA alerts, like EAS alerts, are designed to be sent by local and state authorities for public safety alerts, missing children and imminent threats, such as severe weather. More recently, FEMA rolled out “presidential alerts,” which are supposed to be sent to every phone in the U.S. in the event of a national emergency. Presidential alerts, unlike other alerts, can be issued by the president for any reason, and Americans cannot opt out.

WEA broadcasts emergency notifications through the cell towers of an affected area — such as an area about to be hit by a storm — rather than sending tens of millions of text messages, which would grind the cell networks to a halt. The alerts are created by local, state or federal authorities and are authenticated by FEMA through the Integrated Public Alert & Warning System, or IPAWS, and then passed to cell carriers to deliver the emergency alert.

Since the last nationwide test, FEMA said it has improved WEA to send longer, detailed messages to the majority of phones that support it, as well as support for sending alerts in Spanish to phones when the default language is set to Spanish. The update also allows authorities to include tappable links, like web addresses.

https://www.npr.org/2021/08/11/1026679111/fema-fcc-nationwide-emergency-alert-test-eas-wea

Your Radio, TV And Cellphone May Start Blaring Today. Do Not Be Alarmed

At 2:20 p.m. ET on Wednesday, the federal government will be testing two emergency alert systems on televisions, radios and certain cell phones across the country.

The Emergency Alert System, or EAS, test will be sent to TVs and radios. The Wireless Emergency Alert, or WEA, test will go to cellular consumers who have opted in to receive test messages, which will display in either English or Spanish depending on their phone's settings.

"The test is intended to ensure public safety officials have the methods and systems that will deliver urgent alerts and warnings to the public in times of an emergency or disaster," according to a press release from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is working in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The test will be the sixth nationwide for the EAS and the second for the WEA. It's also the first for the WEA via the opt-in option.

If Wednesday's test is cancelled for any reason, such as severe weather, it is slated to be rescheduled for August 25.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fema-fcc-conduct-nationwide-emergency-alert-test-wednesday/story?id=79389326

FEMA, FCC to conduct nationwide emergency alert test Wednesday

The test will begin at 2:20 p.m. ET and last approximately 30 minutes.

ByLauren Lantry

August 11, 2021, 5:02 AM

• 4 min read